1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a household utensil and, more particularly, is concerned with a canned food product compressing and liquid extracting device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is well known that many solid food products, such as meat and fish, are canned with a relatively high content of liquid, such as water or oil. Thus, it is frequently desirable or necessary to separate or extract the liquid from the solid food product in connection with preparation of the food product or to facilitate extraction of the solid food product from the container.
A common procedure for extracting the liquid is to cut the lid from the container and then hold the lid against the canned contents while the container is inverted to allow liquid to drain from the container. The solid food product is retained in the container by the lid while the liquid drains from the container. This procedure can be hazardous due to the presence of sharp edges of the cut lid and the need to handle the lid in order to carry out the procedure.
Various utensils have been proposed in the prior patent art for use in separating liquid from the solid food product in a container. Representative examples of such utensils are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,995,544 to Farley, U.S. Pat. No. 4,355,574 to Bond et al and U.S. Pat. No. 4,860,647 to Kerslake. However, these utensils have several drawbacks. First, users of these utensils still have to accomplish the removal and disposal of the container lid by hand. Second, operation of the utensils can produce uneven product compression.
Consequently, a need still exists for an improved device for effectuating separation or extraction of liquid from the solid food product in the container without incurring the drawbacks of the prior art devices.